Eigen

I wouldn't say it's worrying, exactly. Coming up with a research topic is quite difficult! It's one of the reasons I didn't apply my first year. I switched into a quite different area, and really needed the time to get a handle on the major players and major work in that area before i could come up with some convincingly novel ideas. If you haven't done any truly independent research as an undergrad, I could see it being even harder.

I don't. If I'm sending an e-mail to someone "cold", I'll often type a signature with the pertinent connections at the bottom, but I don't use a universal one.

Good advisor, hands down. Especially for a MS. But even for a PhD, I'd say a good advisor trumps a good topic. This is, of course, using the criteria you provided- if instead of just not having funding it's a relatively dead topic, or won't lead to publications, etc. then things change.

I don't know what discipline you're in, so I may be a bit off base, but those course loads sound immense. 6-9 hours is a common full load for us, with 12 hours being considered really high. As others have said, you have to weight the extra time for the coursework with the extra time you could be spending on your research, and the research is very important. I'll also second the suggestion to audit or sit in on interesting courses- I do that every other semester or so, even though I've been officially done with coursework for a couple of years. It lets you focus on the things in the course that interest you the most, without the stress and time commitments of actually taking the course for credit. I even got asked to grade presentations by the professor of one of the courses I was sitting in on when they were out- I was interested, familiar with the subject area and the class, but not in it.

Just as a point of note, most of the people in y program didn't study before the GRE, myself included. I'd make time to at least take a practice test to familiarize yourself with the format, but you really have nothing to lose.

As a caveat, I'm not in your field. However, I think some of these questions are fairly broad. 1. I'd try to raise your GPA above a 3.0. A MA GPA doesn't erase your undergraduate record, and some schools have set-in-stone minimum GPA requirements, usually at a 3.0. And you can definitely find cases here of students who had departments fighting for them but could not get the school to grant an exception, even with a 4.0 from a MA. 2. It's generally considered unethical to enter a PhD program with the intent of leaving with a MA. It happens, but you run the risk of burning bridges you'll need for recommendations. Additionally, it's more common for people to get a consolation MA, and if you started in a PhD program you'll have to explain why you got your MA rather than sticking it out. 3. For humanities, this is likely after they've completed their coursework, and are working on their dissertation. At that point, there is no need to be physically on campus, and no prohibition towards other work.

I've never heard of a B+ being a subtle request to drop out. As mentioned, people are usually pretty blunt about that. Any grade lower than a B- is automatic dismissal in my program, however.

I wouldn't speak to the advisor about the grade, per-se, but I would speak to them about the paper, and how you could improve on it. In my program, a B+ would definitely be sending a message, especially if i was from an advisor to advisee. And I would also say it wouldn't look great if the person who received that grade didn't seem to want to know how they could improve on their work. Also, don't avoid your advisor. It might be common to want to, but you shouldn't. Advisors can often be crushing to your confidence- but that's partly their job. They aren't there to provide moral support, encouragement, or boost your confidence. They're there to help you become a better academic. Sometimes you can find an advisor who is helpful as a mentor and someone to lean on, but that's a secondary role, if anything. It's also one of the reasons that people suggest finding a secondary mentor who is not your advisor.

Not presented in a consistent order, from what I recall. Each reviewer gets the packet, not all will go through it in a linear or consistent order, from what I understand. But I can't think of a reason you should be doubling up on your model. You discuss your past research in your "Statement of Past Research", you discuss the broader impacts of your work and your community involvement in your personal statement, and you discuss your proposed research in your research statement. For mine, it all compartmentalized nicely so I didn't have to double up much at all. You will want to hit some of the important points more than once, but I can't think of anywhere other than your research proposal where you should have to lay out and explain your model. If you want to PM me with more details, I might be able to help more specifically.

In chemistry, generally, funding is 12 mos, and you work consistently for those 12 mos. RAships in my department come in 3 sections- Fall, Spring, and Summer as do TAships. Generally, once you're producing research and your advisor has funding, you should be on a full time RAship. Or, in the case of some borderline cases, a half-TAship, which for us means you teach one semester, and your advisor funds you for the summer and other semester.

Please don't post duplicate threads. I've deleted the other one, as I think this one will get more responses.

I would say yes, it's bad form to get a PI who's lab you're working in to write you a letter for the fellowship, get it, and then switch labs.

Wow, your department doesn't provide license keys for SAS?

Hiding the other erroneous thread to keep things clean.

I'm always surprised of how strong of feelings people have towards things. There are very few companies (are there any?) that I "hate" and would never purchase from.

I've never heard of a good AWA score bringing up a low Verbal. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I've never heard of it. Most schools just seem to consider the AWA less important.

Not that multiple trips are always a good thing, and planning in advance can be great- but for us, it worked out exactly the opposite. Our lab schedules can be so all over the place, that we kept planning out menus and then ending up with weeks where we had no time to cook, and were just eating sandwiches, cottage cheese and applesauce. It helped us cut down a lot to go more regularly (for instance, stop by on our bikes on the way home) for almost all of our perishables. They all get eaten while they're fresh, and almost nothing goes bad. For the non-perishables, we definitely stock up. And that includes meat in the freezer.

Chili is just one of those fantastic, hearty, healthy and low-prep meals that you can make a ton of and freeze. Being a Cajun, I also do a lot of gumbo's, which have similar properties. You can also do pasta sauces, baked pastas, and any variety of other hearty soup/stew dish. Things like Lasagna or Enchiladas are great, but they take so much more assembly time. I enjoy making them when I have the energy, but a one-pot meal often comes first. Additionally, one-pot meals like pot-roasts, roasted chicken/turkey, or briskets with sides of roasted vegetables are great in the winter, or even for cold-snacking in the summer. I also like to fire up the grill every few weeks, and do a couple of large batches of meat and veggies to dole out for the rest of the week.

I look at weekly sales flyers for the 4 grocery stores closest, and shop accordingly. I frequently pay about 2/3rds of normal market price for my food. Also, while generally more expensive, there are things better bought at speciality stores like Whole Foods. Especially spices, and by weight/volume grains, etc. I'm also of the opinion that eating craopy, cheap food is a false economy. Take the time to get and cook fresh, healthy food, and it will pay off in the long run.

I'll add on a few I didnt see in the other thread: A PhD Is Not Enough For those in lab sciences,The Lab Navigator

I've always heard about 50%. Obviously higher and lower for different programs, but somewhere around there. This combines people failing out early, people leaving with masters, and people just drifting off ABD.

My understanding is that there's a good chance your advisor is seeing this as a win-win situation. He gets someone he trusts to look after his house, cats and plants, and you get some extra cash. If it's inconvenient for you to do so, I'd just be up front about it. And having your own pets and no car is certainly a decent reason, imo. They may have never run across this before, however- everyone I know that's been asked has jumped at the chance to get a bit of extra cash. That said, I have done favors for my advisor, and have asked him to do some for me as well. How you respond completely depends on the relationship you have with them.

A few spammers seem to be really smart about posting something relevant, then spamming once approved, but definitely fewer. Please do report spam if you see it, though- I see lots of spam posts that I'm deleting have downvotes on the OP, but no report- if you're going to take the time to downvote it, please just take the time to report it as spam.

Two ways I'd go about figuring out the standards in your field: Look at professors CVs. See if they separate the three out. Ask on the Chronicle Forums- much more comprehensive advice than any of us here can most likely give.

Bars during the day are a fantastic place to get work done.